


A Twist In The Story

by Leni



Series: Mother Knows Best [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, background Black Fairy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 03:05:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14323182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: When Baelfire is desperate for help, he hears about a powerful fairy: The Black Fairy.Three hundred years later, the world is different.





	A Twist In The Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThatVermilionFlyCatcher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatVermilionFlyCatcher/gifts).



> Thank you forever to @callafallon and @nropay for helping me think through this 'verse. :)

In every realm, there were four words that made a man take a deep breath and brace himself:

“We need to talk.”

Bae had known it was important from the moment Emma led him into their yellow bug. They might live in a proper house at the moment, but in the most important way, this little car was their home. “What is it, Em?”

Emma had that look in her face, the one that said she’d made her choice and nothing would move her. Then she took a look at him and threw her head back against the seat, staring up at the rearview mirror for a few seconds before saying, “How long are we staying here, Neal?”

Bae was taken by surprise. She had talked so often about becoming a family, especially after they’d found out about Henry, that he had assumed she was happy that they were together and markedly more comfortable than they had been on their own. He knew this wasn’t her concern, but he still reminded her, “Fiona hasn’t mentioned a deadline.” Then, just in case. “Has she?”

Emma shook her head. “I just miss having our own place.”

“Emma, you hated our place.”

Not that he could fault her, considering that the only rental within their budget had been a seventh floor apartment, if that was a proper name for three rooms barely bigger than a closet, with a faulty fridge and sporadic water pressure.

“Okay. Then I miss that there was nobody hovering around.” Emma sat up, an earnest look on her face. “Your aunt is driving me crazy, Neal. I’m this close to punching her in the face if she tells me not to exert myself one more time.”

Bae hoped that was an exaggeration. “I thought you liked that she was helping us.”

“Yeah. Sure. For the first couple of days when I felt like I had slammed my face into a truck and it had run over my abdomen for good measure,-” Bae cringed at the description, though considering the heartfelt instructions never to touch her again that Emma had yelled during the delivery, he wasn’t too surprised- “but I’m feeling back to normal, and I still haven’t done much besides nursing Henry.”

Bae had to think about it. He had been too distracted by the rush of gratefulness - the first in three centuries - for Fiona having crossed over through the portal with him, to realize that Emma had such different feelings about their hostess. “I really haven’t noticed a difference,” he excused himself.

Emma’s sigh let him know that was part of the problem. “Exactly! We should be running ragged with late-night feedings and dirty diapers. This is supposed to be the most hectic time of our life, Neal, and honestly all I am is  _bored_.”

Bae tried to comprehend that. He truly did. However, for him, these last few weeks were the only ones where he’d been able to relax. He’d run for so long, from Pan and Fiona and the law, that he hadn’t stopped looking over his shoulder even during the time he and Emma had travelled together.

“Boredom doesn’t sound too bad,” he tried, thinking of the alternative - just living on their own during Emma’s last months of pregnancy had been a nightmare. He had meant for them to build a life together in Tallahassee, with new names and some seed money, but even if they managed to recover the cache of stolen watches, their sale still wouldn’t have covered the expenses of a baby. “We tried it on our own, Em. Remember?”

Emma glared. “I remember that a complete stranger came up to my hospital room and told me we would be moving in with her. I remember that I accepted because any house sounded better than the place we’d been renting. I did not accept because I wanted to stay away from my kid!”

Bae shook his head in immediate denial. He’d been so busy convincing himself that letting his grandmother catch up with them was the right thing, that  _he_  could make a sacrifice for his son, that he’d never paused to wonder about Emma’s reaction except to be glad that she didn’t ask questions he couldn’t answer. “I never thought that,” he assured her.

To his horror, Emma’s eyes watered. “I’m starting to feel like that, Neal. I know it sounds silly, but every time Henry cries, Fiona is with him before I can get there. I might not know what a normal family is like, but I know a mother should be first in her child’s life.”

Bae tried to think of a time where his mother had been that important to him. A rush of renewed love passed through him, at the knowledge that Emma was so different. “Of course,” he told her, feeling stupid for not noticing. He passed an arm over her shoulder, drawing her closer. “I’m sorry I didn’t see it.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Emma gave him a small smile, settling into a familiar position after hundreds of hours driving together. “You’ll tell your aunt to back down a little?”

Bae took a deep breath. Fiona had scared him as a child, but he was not the bewildered son of the new Dark One anymore, just as she wasn’t the terrifying fairy he’d been foolish enough to summon. “Sure,” he promised.

“And tell her that I’m glad she’s helping us, okay? I’ve seen how families work; I know she didn’t have to take us in at all.”

Fiona couldn’t have been more pleased if they’d rang her doorbell and begged to be let inside.

Bae nodded again. Then a new concept dawned on him. “You… like her?”

“I’m grateful.” Emma shrugged. “She never holds her help over our head, or treats us like kids. If she can stop herself from latching onto Henry, I’ll like her a lot more.”

The Savior, feeling grateful to the Black Fairy. This couldn’t be part of the role Emma had been meant to play, and he wondered how many other things would have changed by the time destiny caught up with them. He kissed Emma’s cheek, holding onto a nervous laugh. “Good,” he said. “That’s good.”

 

The End  
16/01/18

 

 


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